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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sew Thrilled!!

My parents visited a couple of days ago and they brought with them a wonderful gift!!

On the top of my wish list has been a sewing machine and a couple of months ago my mom mentioned out of the blue (I hadn't told her I wanted one, yet) that they planned on getting me a sewing machine for Christmas. Oh the joy that filled my little heart!! I immediately started planning all the wonderful things I would make once I gave myself a refresher course in sewing. About a week ago mom told me that they were having hard time finding a quality machine in a decent price range. I had been looking and thinking the EXACT same thing. So she informed me that she would be giving me her machine. I was shocked! Her machine is older but a VERY high quality machine. I asked her why and her response was hilarious, "because I don't use it. I like to think I will, but I don't. And I know you will." So Thursday my house get an addition, a sewing machine, cabinet and ALL of her sewing supplies.

My dad carries everything in and I got to laughing. I had forgotten about her sewing boxes. Once I saw them, recollection hit me, but I hadn't thought about those boxes in years! Well I got to laughing because they are 70's olive green plastic. There are two of them, a deep one rectangle one and a more flat rectangle just for thread. Now my wonderful mom had warned me that she had not gone through the cabinets drawers or the sewing boxes in years. That's right, years. So I started going through the three drawers and the two olive green boxes. We uncovered the treasures of Jo-Ann Fabrics, circa 1970's and 1980's. We laughed and laughed. Patches, decals, ric rac in various colors and widths, enough zippers to make a shirt out of zippers, buttons, thread (still in the plastic wrap complete with price tags), needles, needles and more needles. Four, count again, four seam rippers, three pairs of scissors, three tape measures, two pairs of pinking shears, four sewing gauges, two hem gauges, a never-been-cut-out Noah's Ark pocket pillow with animals set and various other sewing goodies. We cracked up! There were also some family treasures in there of my beloved Nanny's. Her last pair of scissors was in there as well as a little bowl with a lid that she had put a dozen bobbins with thread in. Thank you Nanny, I'll not need threaded bobbins for three months.

I have been reacquainting myself with using a sewing machine and I'm getting there! I found some flannel that I had packed away and you should have seen me last night when I realized I can finally make my own flannel wipes!! I made four last night in various sizes and shapes. I figured what better way to get back in the sewing groove by making wipes that no one will see but for cleaning. I can work on keeping everything straight and get some wipes.

Well, I have been up since 4 a.m. I have done and folded one load of laundry, two more are washing and drying, made and a few eaten caramel rolls (Linton's breakfast) and now written a blog post and its only 6:22 a.m. Pretty productive for a non-morning person.

I think I now deserve a nap. ~Smile~

By-the-way, I will be posting pictures of the funniest items from the treasures listed above, but I have to save some things for another post. Have a happy Saturday!!

6 comments:

Oh, the treasures that can be found in someone's sewing stuff! I don't have a button box, I have a button drawer. Everything that lived in my Mom's button box, plus everything I have collected in my 40+ years of sewing is quite the collection.

What an incredible gift!! I can tell you though, as a momma of two busy little ones, that you will be very grateful for three tape measures and four seam rippers. I have all ready had to replace my seam ripper since I started sewing again. And don't even get me started on the measuring tapes. Let's just say that they tend to disappear as soon as I set them down :)

One of my favorite childhood memories is sorting through my Grammie's button box. She kept it in a drawer to the left of her kitchen sink. I can still remember what the drawer held (button box and Sears catalogues), what it smelled like, what the finish of the drawer felt like ... I have a paint can (clean, of course!!) with my buttons in it. I never look into it without thinking of my Grammie. Good memories!!

May you have many, many happy moments of sewing on your treasured machine.